


Remnant Universe

by Hivemind42



Category: RWBY, Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Fusion, Canon Era, Gem War, Gen, Great War (RWBY), Lore - Freeform, Magic and Science, Magical Artifacts, Magical Weapons, Non-Canon Relationship, Pre-Canon, Worldbuilding
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-08
Updated: 2019-04-19
Packaged: 2019-04-20 11:59:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,456
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14260500
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hivemind42/pseuds/Hivemind42
Summary: Here we take a look at a world of Dust, Huntsmen, and the beast of darkness Grimm. Here we take a look at a universe with a race of magical gemstones whose empire is on its way to shattering. Watch as both of these worlds meet and clash in the ancient past, and we observe the remnants of Gem and Mankind must learn to live together and survive in a world of bloody evolution. A world that is now teeming with gem monsters and the nightmarish cluster mutants.





	1. WOR: Bismuthian Order of the Forge

Bismuthian Order of the Forge

There have been many organizations, guides or brotherhoods that have risen and fallen throughout the four thousand years since the end of the Gem War. One the arguably most renowned and some might say infamous, the Bismuthian Order of the Forge. They began as a loosely connected guide of humanoid blacksmiths who were friends, allies, and followers of Bismuth, one of Rose Quartz's most celebrated generals during the gem war. It was said that Bismuth bonded with these warrior blacksmiths both on the battlefield and the forge, trading war stories and smithing techniques. Together with Bismuth, they fought Homeworlders, Gem-mutants, and Grimm in hundreds if not thousands of battles. Under bismuth's guidance, these blacksmiths forged many of the weapons of the Crystal Gem Army used during the Gem War. 

When the War was won, the blacksmith guide found it at a loss as what to with themselves after the disappearance of Bismuth. They spent the next ten years looking for her while gathering the lost and abandoned weapons of the defeated Homeworld forces, along with the remains of the shattered, under the supervision of Crystal Gems. When their search turned up nothing, they began to fear that Bismuth must have been destroyed in the final battle. In their time-fighting side by side with the CG, they learned of the life of a Gem and what happens to them when they are shattered. The guild had a deeper understanding of Gemkind then any other natives of Remnant and knew the living death that awaited the broken. And these warriors saw far too many of their friends get shattered and refused to let their comrades linger in horrid living death. It was with these thoughts their path was cemented. 

The guild gathered the shards of the fallen they had collected since the war for the great undertaking to come. They would give prays for forgiveness in light of any pain they may cause and proceeded to use every smithing technique they knew to infuse these shards to metal. Once done, they would use aura and deep meditation to connect with the "spirit" of the Reforged, which was a metal totem, to see what became of their minds. The Crystal Gems heard of what this group were doing and hunted them down out of a sense of horror and betrayal. The only thing that prevented conflict from breaking out between the two groups was Rose picking up on the feelings of the Reforged. 

She was surprised to find that the Reforged were feeling relief, joy, gratitude and a sense of completeness and purpose that is usually absent in the shattered. Rose was amazed. Never in her wildest hopes she ever thought there could be salvation for shattered gems and yet here are these humans and Faunus proving her wrong. This development deepened her love and respect for the people of Remnant and allowed this order of blacksmiths to continue their undertaking under the condition that they never shatter a complete Gem. Their purpose is to bring salvation to the shattered not make more of them. They are only to capture and imprison Homeworlders and Corrupted, nothing more. Those who were shattered in war or accidents are allowed to be reforged. She also asked that whenever possible to “ask" the shattered what they want to be reforged as and what new purpose they wish to follow. 

With Rose's blessing, they expanded and reorganized themselves into the Bismuthian Order of the Forge, and set about undergoing their mission. For the next one thousand, the order was in what many considered to be its golden age. They got their start in the land that would one day be known as Vale. They spread out and formed semi-independent chapters in every settlement and village. Gemsmiths served more than just renowned blacksmiths, they also served as the protectors of their communities with their Reforged partner at hand and even acted as spiritual leaders. Due to their exalted skill at metalworking and the fame of their Reforged weapon partners, were in high demand from the various kings and nobles who wished to make use of their services and boost their power in the face of theirs. 

Gem's opinion on the Bismuthian Orders is somewhat mixed, to say the least. Some Gems completely trust the guilds and even willingly work with them. Some of them also make it their mission to seek out shattered gems and bring them back to the guilds to save the shattered from their pain. Other Gems, however, are creeped out by the guilds and their practices. They see what the Bismuthian Orders do as a perverse form as necromancy. This belief is especially prevalent among Homeworlders, who fear the Gemsmith will smash them to harvest their shards to remake them as something humiliating as punishment for their part in the Gem War. However not all HW Gem share this fear and a rare few even see "possibilities" in the Gemsmith's methods. 

Over time the order started to fracture as factions began to form, each wishing to explore new possibilities of their craft, form closer bonds with those in power, reach spiritual enlightenment, or undergo a more militaristic bent against their various enemies. Some have even started to take on mercenary work while others were becoming a part of the surrounding nobility, moving far away in the spirit and attitude of the everyday people. Despite the tensions among the factions, no one wanted to go to war. So the leadership conveyed together and decided to peacefully break apart to organization into several smaller orders which are free to follow the Bismuthian creed in how they see fit. 

It was these breakaway suborders that continued the expansion and migration of Bismuthian Creed out of Vale into the other continents of the remnant. These new orders changed drastically from its parent organization as they assimilated into the cultures of their new homeland while combining it with aspects of the Bismuthian Creed. Many of these guilds grew specialized over the centuries of operation. Take for example the Forge Knights, who as the name implies created armor and weapons commonly used by their namesakes. Or how about the Jewel Smiths guides who specialized in the in the creation of beautifully crafted jewelry based Reforged, along with their more mundane but still gorgeous counterpart. Then, the Mistralian Blade Masters, whose Reforged katanas are considered by a vast majority of ordinary citizens one the sharpest swords ever forged by Man or Gem. There are even minor guides who figured out how to make the Reforged into clothing, books, and paintings. The Gemsmiths continued their practice for thousands of years until they were nearly destroyed in the Great War between the four Kingdoms and had yet to recover since.


	2. Gem technology and Remnant's weapons

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A few examples of gem technology being incorporated in the weapons of mankind in their endless war with the monsters of Remnant.

Gem technology and Remnant's weapons

Over the thousands of years gems have been on Remnant, bits and pieces of their technology fell to human and faunus hands. Much of this tech simply did not work for humanoids as they were designed to interface with a Gems hard light body or directly to their gemstone. However not all gem tech was unusable to mankind, some of which they made great use of in the past couple of centuries. Here are some examples of Gem technology that have become nearly ubiquitous fixture in the arsenal of the kingdoms' militaries and huntsmen. 

 

The first example of Gem technology being adopted by mankind is a surprisingly seemingly primitive one, gem metallurgical techniques. For thousands of years before the arrival of Gemkind, humans and faunus had a decent grasp in the of mining, extracting, and shaping metals for the forging of tools, armor and weapons to fight against the Grimm or each other. Then when the Gem War raged Bismuth, one of Rose Quartz, shared her masterful smithing techniques with her humanoid blacksmith companions. This led to the these techniques spread to rest of Remnants armies, so that they can forge weapons capable of easily destroying an enemy gems form. These weapons have surprisingly proven to just as effective at cleaving through the flesh of Grimm with ease. Weapons and tools forged with these techniques proved be more durable and resistant to rust then anything made by man up to that point. To this all weapons are still made with metalworking techniques. Thanks to advancements in technology, Gem metallurgy has been refined and incorporated into metal production, leading to stronger alloys in the construction of far more durable, long lasting buildings, vehicles, appliances and machines. 

 

Next, is the Wailing Stones which are devices gems used for audio only communication. When humans took note of powerful the blast of sound these stones gave off decided that they can use these devices as weapons. Weaponized stones always come in pairs, one to receive sound while the other amplify and directs it at the target. These stones are even modified to allow the user to control the frequency to have it match the frequency of internal organs and bones, commonly leading to a violent reaction inside the target, often lethally so. Later developments have led to the wailing stones being incorporated into swords, spears, hammers and other melee weapons which turns them into vibroweapons for greatly increased cutting and hitting power. 

 

The third piece of tech that humanoids made great use use of is the replicator wand. Much to the surprise of gemkind, humanoids were able to recreate the internal mechanism of the wand for their use. Anything replicated by the mechanism is a prefect copy of the original and will even function like the original. However, there are limitations it the replicator. First, all copies will not last for more then a hour. Second, all copies will immediately cease to exist when the the replicator that created them is destroyed. Third, the replicator cannot copy living organic materials. Despite these limitations, man has made one ingenious use the technology that has forever changed the way war was wages on the enemies of man, ammunition. Weapons equipped with a replicator has essentially endless ammunition. This technology has allowed even settlements to fight off vast Grimm invasions without fear of running out of ammo and being left hapless before the claws of beast. 

 

These are but a few ways that presence of Gems have altered the development of humanoid civilization on Remnant. These developments have led to mankind gaining the means to beat back the ever growing, ever evolving hordes of darkness and claim lands once thought impossible to hold. Only time will tell how changes will effect the future Remnant for centuries to come as not even the vaulted Sapphires will their future vision can predict where this path will go.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These is me just crossposting from my Spacebattles account. I know it not much but I hope it gets your mind running with possibilities. Feel free to leave your thoughts or suggestions.


	3. Rebirth of the Shattered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The creations of the Gemsmith Orders and a second chance at life for the Shattered with new form and purpose.

The Reforged

The fear of death is a common notion of understanding for many. One moment you are alive minding your own business and next thing you know there is nothing but terror and pain before everything fades to black and you are gone. That may sound bad but imagine if instead of fading away, you remain wide awake and completely aware of your condition, powerless to do anything about it. Now picture that on top of that your mind and spirit is as broken and mangled as your corpse, unable to ever remember or understand the person you use to be and forever be tormented by it. If you can comprehend the horror of that scenario, then you can have some clue of the unending nightmare that awaits all gems upon shattering.

The shattered will never be who they once were ever again, but there is hope that they can be reborn in a new form and granted peace from their pain. The exalted Gemsmiths of the Bismuthian Orders had figured out a method that utilizing advanced aura techniques and masterful smithing arts that infuse gem shards, along with the fragmented consciousness contain within, into metal creating the Reforged in the process. The forging uses the smith's aura to communicated, guide and combine the fragmented consciousnesses into a whole singular being. Its as much a spiritual forging as it is a physical one. It must be stated that the this does not resurrect the shattered Gem, it creates a new being who is an echo of the broken gem. A small portion of the Gemsmith's spirit is also left incorporated into the Reforged conciseness, farther adding into the divergence. As sad as this might be, it much better than the alternative.

Once undergoing the smelting process, it up to the Gemsmith and Reforged what the path to take going forward. A critical component of the spiritual mending in the broken gem is to choose a goal or purpose to form the core of their new being. Its this core purpose that shapes what the Reforged will become. The Gemsmith can influence the core purpose and Reforged's future form but must respect the choice. As most of these gems were shattered during an apocalyptic war, many of them wish to continue to fight, whether it's to settle half-remembered grudges or to protect what they had previously fought and died for. It's from these gems that become the famed and most well known of the Reforged, the Gemmis Arma.

Gemmis Arma is regarded as some of the most effective and powerful weapons ever forged by mortal hands on Remnent. They have proven in thousands of battles to be effective in destroying the physical forms of Gems and the bodies of Grimm. The Gemmis Arma can manifest a cloud or smoke-like substance that can be used for attack or defense in aid of their partner. Some of the older, more experienced Gemmis even solidify this cloud into simple shapes to more efficiently aid in this endeavor. It can also act as a last line of defense when all aura has been depleted for short periods of time. In the of Reforged who take the forms of bows or primitive guns, create their ammo out of hard light to attack.

Another aspect that has proven valuable and life-saving to Huntsmen throughout the centuries is their ability take in and store aura over time for their partner's later use in battle. Gemsmiths speculate that this is a result of aura being used so intensively in the smelting process. Despite this trait, Gemmis cannot produce aura, only take in, store, and to release it. Another valuable aspect of these weapons is their ability to collect the skills and combat experience of their previous partners and pass them on to the new current wielder. This transfer of knowledge is not an instant process, and the wielder still needs to train to prepare their body and mind for the combat skills they are about to receive without destroying themselves physically or mentally.

A surprising aspect of Reforged is their inability to speak. When communicating with human or Gems, they use images, sounds, and emotions. To the inexperienced, it makes no sense, inspiring nothing but confusion. To Gemsmiths or those with much exposure to the Reforged, can understand this bizarre method of communication. The weapon can also gain slight control of their partner's movements to aid in combat maneuvers and improve their reaction time. If their partner is passed out and in great danger, the Gemmis can assume direct control of their wielder's body, pushing it past its limits and fight their way to safety. The pair is at their best when both are in mental concert with one another, entering a combat meditative state whose power comes from the speed, precision, and efficiency that they fight with. People who bore witness to Huntsmen entering this state are left both awed and scared, describing the huntsman killing with the brutal efficiency of a machine yet move with the grace of a master dancer. It's quite the sight to behold.

Those who think they can just pick up a Gemmis Arma and have an easy path to power or glory is in for a major disappointment. They may be weapons to be used for combat, but they are living beings with wills of their own. Gemsmiths who have successfully forged a Gemmis as the last trail of their training, are left spiritually marked, which makes all Gemmis see them as "family" and willingly lend their power to them with little reservation. For non-Gemsmiths, it depends on the Gemmis in question. Some will demand feats of high strength or skill, or showings of honor. A couple will even make their would-be wielder agree to deals for its partnership. The strongest, seasoned, and prideful of the Gemmis Arma, may demand a series of trails or even an epic quest for one to win the right to wield their power. However, there are many Reforged that have not only formed intense bonds with their welders but their families as well. It is these Gemmis that not only get passed down through the generations as family heirlooms but as cherished members of the family as well. It is said the family with a Gemmis heirloom is never defenseless. It is possible to force the weapon into submission but the "wielder" must remain on guard, or the Gemmis will turn on them if given a chance.

The Reforged who are not made into a weapon are known as Gemmis Supplementum. Though not as famous as their weapon counterparts, the Supplementum have never the less manage to garner renown of their throughout the ages. They can take a wide range of forms and have exhibited many abilities unique to themselves or their shard components. Like for example, a sapphire mirror, which can show glimpses of possible futures in its reflection. Or an aquamarine tiara, which gives the wearer perfect memory and access to significant amount of knowledge. Or even a bag capable of holding items, as long as they can be fit through its opening, far bigger and heavier than itself with ease. The most popular kind of Supplementum among the Gemsmiths are wearable items made from ruby shards that grant their wearer excellent heat resistance, which Gemsmiths use to practice their craft on molten materials with their bare hands.

Throughout the ages since the end of the Gem War, the exact number of Reforged were never precise due to the dispersed nature of later Orders and their different methods of record keeping. The problem is farther exacerbated since many to those records were lost or destroyed during the Great War. Much of the modern Bismuthian Orders spent not only rebuild their organization to what it once before but also seeking out and reclaiming the Reforge lost during that chaotic period of war. The lost Gemmis Arma and Supplementum left abandoned out on the battlefield or in Guild armories as their wielders and creators died in the carnage. Many of the lost were looted and have found themselves either put into private collections, museums, black market, or if they are lucky in some family home.

Most of the Lost came from orders that were utterly wiped out or warriors who died on the battlefield, which has left these Gemmis so traumatized by the loss of what they saw as family, they put themselves into a dormant state to shut out the world and sleep through the pain. Not much can wake them from their dormancy other than exposure to a potent yet familiar Aura, like that of a Gemsmith or when someone tries to melt them down for scrap metal, in which case they retaliate violently, often leaving few survivors. Mantle Reforged are the worst in this regard, if waking up near the site of their Orders downfall, will often seek out the closest available body, forcibly possessing it before going on a vengeance-fueled rampage on all those they perceive as having a hand in the death of their loved ones. Despite this, it is possible to heal these gemmis of their pain, but a few never do, like a particular blood red blade, who found a kindred spirit in a spiteful bull of red earth.


	4. Of Gems and Grimm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gems and their effects on the nature of Grimm

Since the Gemkind first set its eyes on Remnant, there have only two races that won their interest. First was mankind, with the exalted power of the soul they called "aura," which allowed them to perform feats far beyond their physical limitations and granted them extra abilities referred to as "semblance." It made them prime candidates for research and possible recruitment into Homeworld's weakening military. The second were the creatures that seemed to be at war with the first. Creatures that they would soon come to know all too well: Grimm. Gems were intrigued by these seemingly inorganic creatures with their apparent lack for needing food, water, or sleep. They were also interested in how these creatures were seemingly immortal, evolved in strength and intelligence with age and seemed endless in number. They also showed morphological diversity and a wide range of physical abilities that far outstripped that existed among the humans and the faunus.

Its common knowledge the vast majority of Grimm will attack either humans or faunus on sight only stopping when either all targets are dead, or it dies. On how the Grimm interacts with Gems is somewhat far more complicated. In the beginning, when gem and Grimm first came into contact, Grimm showed very little interest only really attacking Gem when they encroach on their territory. In fact, during the Pre-rebellion Era Grimm attacks on Gems were usually incidental at best as the Grimm was either seeking their preferred prey with the gem only in their way or the Gem provoked the Grimm first. Grimm also seems incapable of sensing Gems, having to rely on sight and sound to detect them. If you were to lock up a Grimm in a room with a human or faunus and gem, the Grimm would always attack the organic first unless the gem was unfortunate enough to get in the way. It was these behavioral traits that got Homeworld thinking if they could manipulate these behavioral patterns to tame the Grimm and get them to work towards their goals.

When the then ruling Council of Homeworld agreed with Pink Diamond's proposal to "uplift" humanity into its ranks for the growth and restoration of the Gem Empire, they also decided that attempts should be made to harness the power that Grimm as a possible alternative to the humans. That proved to be a bad idea quickly. In any facility that housed both human and Grimm, the latter would always escape their enclosures or holding cells to then break right into the human's, slaughtering them before moving on to rampage through the gem facilities until they either escape or die. After the dozen of such events repeated themselves in several of their facilities, Homeworlders agreed it was best to keep the humans and Grimm in separate buildings altogether. Even with these changes Grimm still proves to an exceedingly tricky research subject as they would always fight their handlers to escape or just lay down and die for no apparent reason. It frustrated gem researchers to no end that they couldn't even dissect the corpses of Grimm as they fade away to nothing. In the end, Grimm research was deemed far more trouble then they were worth and that they were to be exterminated for the hindrance they are.

Homeworld carried out seemingly successful campaign against Grimm with little substantial retaliation. That was until the rebellion was beginning to kick off and Homeworld was going to ramp up gem production, the prime kindergarten got attacked by massive and unnaturally coordinated hordes of Grimm, overwhelmed the defenses, destroyed many vital installations, shattered many Gem personal and wholly driven out the forces of Homeworld. This angered and horrified the Gem Council that they effectively lost one of their most important facilities for the continuation and restoration of the Gem Empire to the primal and supposedly mindless Grimm that they were exterminating in the millions just weeks ago. As they marshaled their forces to take back the kindergarten, only to be shocked when they found it empty of any Grimm. However, instead of feeling relief, the gems felt dread as they discovered that the dozens of injectors along with thousands gem seed capsules that were in the kindergarten at the time are gone. The loss of those injectors to the Grimm will come to haunt man and gem for millennia to come.

All thoughts of investigating the Grimm's actions in the kindergarten had to be put aside as the Crystal Gem Rebellion was underway. For the first few centuries of the Gem War, neither side saw any major activity from the Grimm other then usual scattered out attacks on human settlements as is typical of their kind. However roughly three hundred years into the war, the Grimm made a true reappearance into the collective gem consciousness, for the beasts of extinction have returned and they have changed. The hordes of darkness attacked military bases and kindergartens, seemingly swarming them like they are known to. Not expecting anything new from the hordes, gems counterattacked them like they would any other collection of Grimm. Both gem factions, halfway through their counterattack, would learn to their dismay that this was a mistake. Unlike before the Grimm attacked with a shocking amount of ferocity towards gems never seen before resulting in gems being unprepared for this drastic change in Grimm behavior and suffered for it. This also marked the emergence of new horrifying forms of Grimm with strange physical abilities. Worst of all is the new mutant Grimm with disturbing gem-like characteristics and appeared to be leading their lesser kin with malevolent primal intelligence. Most disturbing of all to gemkind about these new Grimm is that they appeared to be source gem targetted aggression and seemed to enjoy hunt down gems while leading packs of their lesser kin to run their prey down.

These engagements with the evolved new hordes reeked so much damage on Homeworlders and Crystal Gems that both sides would call temporary ceasefires just to fight to deal with the now deadlier Grimm. For a short period of the war, conflicts between the Grimm and gem will crop up and fade as quickly as they flared up. Aside from this these sudden flare-ups in aggression, the Grimm seemed to retreat and appeared to wait out that war excluding the minor random attacks of "regular" Grimm without their evolved alphas. After the war, the remaining gems went on to build the Enclaves that served as their homes, centers of power, fortresses against all threats and the seeds of civilization where the cities of humanity will be built around or near them. The new breeds of alpha Grimm would return to plague man and gemkind for millennia to come.

**Author's Note:**

> The basic idea of this World Building Project, the cast, and events of SU, is a part of Remnant rather than earth. The gems are still gems, and the humans remain human. The events that take place in will follow the canon of the two shows loosely too allow more freedom let elements of the two to come together, like a "fusion";). I will try to update as often as possible whenever I have the time or when inspiration hits me like a runaway double-decker bus filled with angry Grimm. 
> 
> I'm open to suggestions and feedback, anything that has potential or cool but makes sense in SU/RWBY setting will be put in. Future posts will come in the form of Lore dumps introducing characters, factions, history, subgroups, creatures, and technology. I hope we can have fun in this first great undertaking of mine.


End file.
